For the first time since the third quarter of 2014, Houston's office sublease inventory contracted, according to a report from Chicago-based JLL. Houston-based ConocoPhillips Co.'s (COP) relocation of its Houston headquarters to Energy Center 4 – an empty 597,629-square-foot office building in the Energy Corridor that ConocoPhillips put on the sublease market just months ago – favorably tipped the city's sublease scales. The ConocoPhillips deal is responsible for half of the progress made in the fourth quarter – Houston's sublease market decreased by roughly 1.2 million square feet this quarter, or five percent, according to the report.

Chevron (CVX) updated investors on its capital spending plans last night, but analysts appear to disagree whether it was good or bad for the stock. RBC's Brad Heffern explains why he thinks Chevron's update will disappoint investors: Chevron announced a $19.8 billion capital and exploratory budget for 2017. The key takeaways are: Reaction: We think this is a slight negative for Chevron, with the budget meaningfully above consensus and a smaller shale/tight budget than we had expected, although it is nice to see confirmation that spending will continue to move lower.